Page 25 of The Robin on the Oak Throne

“That doesn’t sound like you.”

“I’ll investigate before the auction.”

“Sounds like fun,” she said as she tossed the invitation back to him. “Who doesn’t love a costume party?”

Her magic drain was hitting her hard. She felt like she was going to pass out at any moment.

“You should sleep,” Graves said.

She dropped onto the bed. “Probably.”

Graves began to unbutton his shirt, and her eyes landed on the strip of bare skin.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

He gestured to the bed. “There’s only the one.”

“Yeah, but…”

“You’re exhausted, and you need to sleep.”

“Together?”

Graves shot her a look as he stripped out of his shirt, giving her a spectacular view of his muscled chest and the tattoo that crept up to his shoulder. She swallowed and tried to stop staring but found it difficult. The last time she and Graves had shared a bed, things had beenveryheated.

“What? You can’t sleep next to me?”

“I mean…Ican,” she said.

His hands moved to his trousers, popping the button and pulling down the zipper. Kierse swallowed hard at the peek of black boxers underneath. The pants hung loose on his hips, and he smirked as she forced her gaze upward.

“Excellent. Then we’ll share.”

He let the pants fall to the ground, and she gulped.

“But…”

“Are you so affected by me?” he challenged.

Kierse set her jaw. “You know what?” she told him. “Fine.”

She lay back in the bed, letting the sweater ride up high on her thighs. It wasn’t as if she were the only one affected. He had absolutely responded to the sight of her in his sweater. And even if hehadn’t, she wasn’t about to let him win this one, too.

She glanced his way only for her eyes to get caught on the bulge in his boxers. He absolutely was not unaffected by her. Not with the length of him on display as it strained against the material. Fucking hell. She jerked her gaze away as he slid under the covers.

Graves pulled the string for the lamp, casting theminto darkness except for the dim glow from the window. She could reach out at any moment and touch him, and it suddenly felt intimate.

And fuck, she wanted that. She didn’t know if she was his sacrifice or if there was some other game thatEstellewas playing. She was too tangled up in him—had been, for far too long. She’d crossed an ocean to escape him, and it still hadn’t been far enough.

“The world looked different when I first purchased this flat,” Graves said into the darkness.

Kierse turned on her side to face him. She could only see the outline of his beautiful face. A visage cut from stone. She knew how it would feel to give in. To say fuck it, like she had that first time. If only things were so easy.

“Less noise. Less people. Less chaos,” he mused.

“When was that?”

“Before the World’s Fair. I was here with Imani as my apprentice,” he told her. “We met Montrell when he came from Nigeria for the Fair.”

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